Current social networking systems enable Businesses to communicate with Talents that they are sponsoring or Fans of the Talent. The problem with social media or social networks is that there are currently not sophisticated means to value the effect of a connection between the Business and the Talent or between the Talent and the Fan or the Business and the Fan. Examples of Talents are athletes, artists, musicians, sports clubs or similar entities, looking for sponsorship.
When a brand sponsors a Talent there is currently not a way to know who the people and businesses are that the sponsorship is targeted towards. There is not a way to gain a direct connection to the people and businesses connected to a sponsorship for marketing opportunities. There are no technical solutions available where a Fan can see how their social media sharing, merchandise and event purchases compare with other Fans of a particular Talent or Group.
One known solution is Facebook, where a Talent and a Business can set up a page. These pages are separate and do not work together to provide a marketing opportunity for the business. It also does not address the case for a business-to-business sales relationship. Once a business is able to gain a “like” on their social media page they can post a “status” but there is no guarantee that anyone will see it. The service provider may request a payment to gain extra visibility, but this still offers no guarantee of visibility and who actually is engaging with the “status” post. There is also no way to know, once a “like” is obtained, how influential that person or business is in bringing new likes to the business or talent.
Another problem in social networking systems is that there are too many things competing for space in the user's screen or timeline. As a result the marketing effect is diminished. User's use social networks mostly for personal sharing of information so any advertisements get easily discarded.
It is difficult for a Business to tell where Fans come from, for example which Talent or Fan attracted them to their business. It is also difficult for a Talent to know who his best fans are.